Imagine Boston 2030: How we prepare for climate change

Imagine Boston 2030 released “Guiding Growth: Towards an Inclusive City”, a report that outlines the top goals of the City’s first master planning effort in 50 years. One of the plan’s top goals is: “promoting a healthy environment and adapting to climate change”, and that’s exactly what we’re working on through Climate Ready Boston.

Imagine Boston 2030 has released “Guiding Growth: Towards an Inclusive City”, a report that outlines the top goals of the City’s first master planning effort in 50 years. This is a big deal, and here’s why: these goals are the result of a lot of recent involvement with the community -- from surveys to community workshops to one-on-one conversations -- and the continued ideas that will be fleshed out over the coming year.

Here at Greenovate, we’re especially interested about one goal in particular -- “promoting a healthy environment and adapting to climate change” -- because that’s exactly what we’re working on through Climate Ready Boston. Climate Ready Boston is an entire initiative focused on how the city can continue to thrive by adapting to the climate change impacts we know are coming: sea level rise, coastal flooding, increased precipitation, and extreme temperature.

Though separate initiatives with separate teams, Climate Ready Boston and Imagine Boston 2030 are closely linked. The Climate Ready Boston team is providing the best science on local climate change impacts, and creating maps that show how the City might be at risk. Then we’ll identify which tools, such as policies, programs, and designs, could help us start addressing these challenges. All of this information will directly inform Imagine Boston 2030, so when we think about what we want Boston’s future to look like, we build this vision on a clearer understanding of how climate change will shape our city.

And though climate change will shape our city in big ways, our response can make sure this is for the better. Just like the Imagine Boston 2030 visioning report explains, we can do that by creating a waterfront with public green space we can enjoy, and that protects the city. We can ensure our most vulnerable residents have access to services they need, and that our critical systems are protected from potential damages. We can also improve air and water quality in our neighborhoods, create jobs to install green infrastructure and clean energy systems, all while reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.